Every Girl's Dream
by EnjolrasIsMine
Summary: Elli pines for a happier life than the one she has now, and her prayers might be answered by the strange new young man in town. ElliXCliff! Rated PG13 because future chapters might be PG13-ish.
1. Chapter 1

1Every Girl's Dream

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Do I need to say it? I own nothing from Harvest Moon.

Summary: Elli pines for a happier life than the one she has now, and her prayers might be answered by the strange new young man in town. ElliXCliff

Well, here you go:

It wasn't all fun and games, working in the Flowerbud Bakery and waiting tables for sloppy customers. Elli loved her job, of course, and loved her grandmother and Jeff, but some days the heat of the oven and the smell of butter and coffee were almost more than she could stand. On occasion she would swear that if one more bakery patron snapped their fingers to get her attention or spilled their tea all over the table in a soggy puddle, she was throwing her flour-caked apron on the floor and storming right out of there, no matter how much Jeff persuaded her to stay or how lonely she knew Grandma would be without her company. Of course, she never did leave. She always just tolerated her customers' often piggish behavior because, quite frankly, they put money in her pocket. And she needed money. Suppose Grandma got sick! How else would they afford good medicines? True, the local potions master did whip up some decent home remedies, but real medical treatment, the only kind she would trust for her grandmother, remained in the cities and cost a pretty penny.

Elli worried about Grandma, and spent most of her time off--scarce as it was--talking to the poor old woman, wondering how much time she had left with her last living family member. If Grandma were to die...Elli didn't know what she'd do. And yet, living her life in fear of losing her loved one...well, that wasn't really living at all. In fact, the burden her grandmother unwittingly placed on her was taking a serious toll on her social life. Elli longed to wander out of the village and visit Moon Mountain on her free Mondays. She wanted to catch fish in the river, collect walnuts for cakes, breathe fresh air that wasn't hot and thick and sweaty like the stuffy air in the bakery kitchen. And most of all, she wanted to meet people out there, chat with the neighbors she rarely saw. It was about time she took a break, wasn't it?

Alas, it was a busy time of year at the Flowerbud Bakery and she just couldn't leave Jeff to do all the work in the springtime rush. Between the two of them, they could barely catch their breath as it was.

It was a Wednesday, a particularly hectic one, and both Elli and Jeff were finding it exceedingly difficult to place all the orders bombarding them all at once. Everyone wanted cakes and pies and cookies to give to their sweethearts, tea and water to refresh them after a hard day's work. Customer after customer rushed into the restaurant, demanded service, and left just as quickly with their arms or stomachs full of the exhausted bakers' hard work, seldom leaving a tip or even a few kind words for their trouble. But finally, at about three o'clock, things began to slow down.

Wiping her aching hands on her now even dirtier apron, Elli heaved a sigh and flopped onto a chair, relishing the silence of the empty bakery.

"Some day, huh, Jeff?" she commented as she tried to suck a good breath into her lungs. "I thought we'd be swamped until closing time."

"Me too," Jeff replied from behind the register as he wiped the sweat from his brow. "I'm getting too old for this."

Elli began to laugh at his little joke, but was interrupted when the front door swung open again and in strolled Karen, the daughter of the man who owned the nearby vineyard, and Jack, the young man who recently took over the ranch just outside of town. She had seen these two together an awful lot lately; sometimes, as she peered longingly out of her bedroom window at night, she'd see them making their way to the village bar, ready for an evening of dancing and drinking and whatever other magic went on behind the door to that wondrous building. Elli knew she could go in and visit whenever she wanted, but most of the time she was just too tired.

Presently, Jack and Karen took a seat at the table in the corner of the restaurant and began chattering away, as excited couples do, and Elli once again stood up and took another order. As Jack and Karen ate, they paid little mind to the girl, which was perfectly fine with her, because she didn't want them to see her watching their every move.

Oh, how she envied the both of them! Karen, with her long, pretty hair and sparkling confidence...Jack, who had so much adventure ahead of him, what with the friends he was making and the places he was going on an everyday basis...they had everything she had always wanted and then some.

Eventually, after quite some time, the couple left, and Elli cleared their table and helped Jeff close up shop. She walked Grandma inside, putting away her rocking chair and tucking her into bed, and said her goodnights to her tiny wisp of a family. It was days like this that made her feel like crying at night, because all morning and afternoon long, tempting glimpses of friends and lovers danced in and out of her shop--never quite real, never more than a dream--and they all left her empty and jealous and plagued by an overall feeling of glumness. She just wanted what every girl her age wanted: a social life. And with all she had to juggle at the present time, this dream was virtually unattainable.

With a sigh, Elli climbed into bed and turned off her lamp as visions of dancing and joking with friends swirled wildly in her mind...

In the distance she could faintly hear Jack and Karen laughing as they entered the crowded bar across the street.

A/N: More to come! I will finish my other fic later, because I'm enjoying this one more. Please R&R!! Love you guys!


	2. Chapter 2

Every Girl's Dream

Chapter 2

The rest of the week dragged on and on, each day chugging along slower than the day before. Elli's shifts seemed to take an eternity, the hours stretching into years, decades...She could practically feel herself growing old. She wondered if the days would even bother to change, or if they would just pause indefinitely on one and stay there forever. The boredom nearly drove her insane! And then, just when it seemed that the world would stop turning altogether, Monday came. It came at long last, with sunshine and fresh flowers and a warmth that beaconed to Elli through her window the moment she opened her eyes.

Today, the only day of the week that she didn't have to slave away over a hot oven, was the day she would make her escape and head for Moon Mountain. Just for a few hours, that was all. Just long enough to collect her thoughts, to live a little bit, and what a perfect day to go! She could almost hear the sky calling her name, saying, "Elli, dear! Come play with me! You know you want to!" And that was all the encouragement she needed.

With a new spring in her step, Elli leaped out of bed, pulled on a freshly laundered dress, and bounded into the front room, where she met Jeff sitting at a table with a cup of coffee and the day's newspaper.

"Good mor-ning!" she sang, scurrying to the coffee machine to pour herself a mugful. Jeff looked up from his reading and smiled, both delighted and bewildered by her cheerfulness. Just the day before, Elli had been dragging her feet and barely speaking at all, let alone singing.

"Aren't we the happy one this morning!" he beamed as he watched her take a sip from her mug and sit down beside him. He just loved to see her in a good mood; it made him feel so...warm.

"Why yes! Yes I am," replied Elli. "Because I've decided, Jeff, that I'm going to take a one-day vacation!"

"Is that so? Where to?"

"To Moon Mountain. It's only a little ways away from here."

Jeff reasoned for a moment, and, upon seeing the pleading look of hope and anticipation on Elli's face, caved in.

"I guess that would be okay."

Elli's insides did a flip-flop as excitement surged in her brain, for these wonderful words bought her ticket to freedom! With a squeal of utter delight, she set her coffee cup on the table (spilling a bit upon impact), sprang from her chair, and flung her arms around Jeff's neck.

"Ohhh! Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she cried shrilly, and ran back to her room to brush her teeth, remembering to plant a kiss on Jeff's cheek first. He turned a deep shade of scarlet.

For the first time in many days, the minutes seemed to whiz by, and Elli almost feared the day would end before she even got a chance to walk out the door. So she hurried at the sink and brushed her teeth quickly, then ran a comb through her hair and raced outside with a quick goodbye to Jeff and Grandma. At last, at last she was free from the chains that bound her to her work, day after boring, uneventful day.

She practically skipped down the cobblestone walkways of the village and kept going until she reached the woods, where she turned left and started up the path to Moon Mountain.

There it was, finally, after so much dreaming. And--oh!--what a sight to behold! Surely the surrounding meadows had never looked as beautiful and inviting as they did on this perfect day! It seemed every flower sported a fresh bloom, each a different color, mocking the image of a rainbow in the grass. The deep creeks and rivers that cut through the terrain like narrow blue roads trickled merrily in a sweet, hypnotic lullaby. Even the top of the mountain, as crooked and pointy as it was, looked serene and somehow poetic against the sapphire backdrop that was the sky. Obviously other people agreed that this was a wonderful place, because a fisherman's tent and a small cabin were just barely visible in the distance.

Elli sighed and slowed her pace as she walked along a cleared path, admiring the scenery all the while. Entranced by all the sights and sounds of the mountain, she meandered over to one of the rivers and sat on its bank so she could watch it run. Never before had she ever felt such incredible tranquility! It was as if just being exposed to the fresh air and goodness of nature had refreshed her body and spirit, like a long, cool bath for her soul. She could nearly fall asleep right where she was...right then...right...there...

Suddenly, the snapping of a twig pulled Elli from her reverie, and she whirled around to see where the sound had come from. But she couldn't see anything; just the lovely landscape around her, and a few squirrels and sparrows here and there. Normally, she would have shrugged off the noise, assuming it was nothing, but the fact that she was all alone in unfamiliar territory--beautiful as it was--made her more wary. She pushed herself up from the ground and brushed the grass and dirt off her dress, then moved deeper into the meadow, near where she had heard the strange sound.

Finally, she came upon a quieter, more secluded area of the fields, where there was an even greater abundance of flowers and trees, even a rabbit or two munching on the grass. And in addition, there was something...no, some i one /i ...standing by a small, sparkling pond. It was a young man, probably in his late teens or early twenties, with light brown hair--sun-kissed with blonde in some places--that fell just below his shoulders and was tied back gently so that a few stray locks still framed his face. Elli could see his eyes clearly, even from as far away as she was, and couldn't help noticing that they were a lovely shade of ice blue. But what she noticed most of all was the large hawk perched delicately on his shoulder, perfectly content to just sit there, unblinking. It looked almost like a stuffed toy, only too realistic.

Glancing up, the man realized that he was being watched, and muttered, sounding rather annoyed, "Can I help you?"

Elli could tell immediately that he was very antisocial, and considered apologizing and walking away, but for some reason she couldn't move or speak. So she just stood there, wordless, in a kind of stupor as he stared at her, willing her to go away.

"What do you want?" he snapped, embarrassed, Elli assumed, that he had been spotted. Finally, words came to her, but not words that would actually answer his question. They were the words she felt like saying, the words that just popped into her mind and inevitably poured out of her mouth:

"That's a very pretty bird."

The man gaped at her in what Elli guessed was disbelief for a moment, then shifted his weight onto one foot and said, "...Thank you."

"I don't recognize you. Are you from the area?" more reasonable words came to her now. But for some reason her question seemed to make the handsome stranger rather uncomfortable.

"No," he replied cautiously. "I'm just passing through for a while." Obviously, he didn't want to say any more, so Elli decided to let it go, even though she was intrigued by his response and wanted to know more about him.

"Well, welcome," she said. "I'm Elli. I work at the bakery in town. You should stop by sometime."

Then, feeling suddenly warm in the face, Elli opted to leave, to get out of there and go home. She didn't know why, but a blush had begun to crawl into her cheeks, and she felt very, very stupid whenever she went red.

"But I have to go back to work now," she lied, as her excuse to get away. "See you."

With that, she turned and began to walk away, a bit shaky for some reason, and was in the process of mentally kicking herself for her awkwardness when she faintly heard the young man mumble, "I'm Cliff."

Elli paused, but didn't turn to face him again, because once more she was unable to move.

"If you even care," he practically whispered, and Elli supposed he had not meant for her to hear what he had said. Wanting desperately to disappear, to melt into a puddle and sink into the ground, to teleport herself back to her bedroom, Elli stayed frozen and closed her eyes.

And, though she fought as hard as she could, her lips betrayed her and she called out from where she was, "I care."

And finally, her legs began to work again, and they took her home as quickly as they could.

A/N: Believe it or not, I am going somewhere with this story. This is not going to be one of those girl-meets-boy-and-they-fall-in-love-and-start-dating stories, as you may have thought. I won't be writing for a few days, but when I come back with my next chapter, I think you'll be able to better see what I'm doing with this little piece. Till then, thanks for the reviews!


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